Dec. 3, 2001
Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame hockey defenseman Evan Nielsen (Jr., Evanston, Ill.) has been named the Central Collegiate Hockey Association’s (CCHA) Defensive Player of the Week for the week ending December 2nd.
Nielsen and his defensive teammates held Lake Superior State to just two goals on the weekend as the Irish swept the Lakers 7-0 and 5-2.
In Saturday’s 7-0 win, Nielsen helped set up Connor Dunlop’s eventual game-winning goal at 5:33 of the first period. He then followed that with his second goal of the season at 10:54 of the second period which gave the Irish a 6-0 lead in the game. The shutout was the first of the season for Notre Dame and the first since Dec. 4, 1999.
The Irish killed all 10 Laker power play chances in the game.
The following night, Nielsen was +2 on the evening as the Irish killed off four more Lake State power play chances in the 5-2 win.
For the weekend, Nielsen was +5 and helped Irish special teams kill off 14 consecutive power play chances to give Notre Dame its first series sweep of the season.
For the season, the Irish captain has two goals and five assists for seven points and is +2 overall.
With the weekend sweep, the Irish moved into a tie for sixth place in the CCHA with a 4-4-3 record in league play. Notre Dame is 4-6-4 overall for the season and 4-2-3 in its last nine games.
The Irish return to league play this weekend when they travel to Bowling Green for a weekend series with the Falcons on Dec. 7-8.